Unless you don’t ever shop for candy bars, you may well have noticed the sudden profusion of bags of unwrapped miniature versions of those bars.

Mr. Tidbit is speaking here of what are called “Bites” in the Mars candy family (Milky Way, Snickers, etc.) and “Minis” in the Hershey family (Kit Kat, York, etc.) — not “fun size,” “miniature,” “snack size” or other small versions, which are sold in bags but are individually wrapped (think Halloween).

Raise your hand if you can think of a reason that candy makers might want to offer their products in this new configuration.

Original; three kinds of juice-infused — cherry, blueberry and pomegranate (when Mr. Tidbit last checked, in 2005, before we all wanted antioxidants, it was cherry, orange and strawberry); reduced sugar (sweetened with sugar and Sucralose); and two kinds of trail mix (Cranberries & Chocolate and Fruit & Nut). All of those products come in 5-ounce bags that sell for the same price — at one store, that’s $2.79 (56 cents per ounce).

Now there are two more kinds of Craisins: milk chocolate-covered and Greek yogurt-covered. They come in hard-to-compare 8-ounce bags and at the same store sell for $4.99 (62 cents per ounce).